owing the valleys when stopped by the ranges--where, by the
way, we usually found turkeys in great numbers. We had water-bags made
out of the skins of kangaroos and wallabies, and would camp wherever
possible close to a native well, where we knew food was to be found in
plenty.

At this period I noticed that the more easterly I went, the more ranges I
encountered; whilst the somewhat dreary and mostly waterless lowland lay
to the west. We would sometimes fail to obtain water for a couple of
days; but this remark does not apply to the mountainous regions. Often
the wells were quite dry and food painfully scarce; this would be in a
region of sand and spinifex.

When I beheld an oasis of palms and ti-trees I would make for it, knowing
that if no water existed there, it could easily be got by digging. The
physical conditions of the country would change suddenly, and my
indefatigable wife was frequently at fault in her root-hunting
expeditions. Fortunately, animal life was very seldom scarce. On the
whole, we were extremely fortunate in the matter of water,--although the
natives often told me that the low wastes of sand and spinifex were
frequently so dry, that it was impossible even for them to cross. What
astonished me greatly was that the line of demarcation between an utter
desert and, say, a fine forest was almost as sharply marked as if it had
been drawn with a rule. A stretch of delightfully wooded country would
follow the dreary wastes, and this in turn would give place to fairly
high mountain ranges.

Once, during a temporary stay among one of the tribes, the chief showed
me some very interesting caves among the low limestone ranges that were
close by. It was altogether a very rugged country. Always on the look-
out for something to interest and amuse me, and always filled with a
strange, vague feeling that something _might_ turn up unexpectedly which
would enable me to return to civilisation, I at once determined to
explore these caves; and here I had a very strange and thrilling
adventure.

Whilst roaming among the caves I came across a pit measuring perhaps
twenty feet in diameter and eight feet or nine feet in depth. It had a
sandy bottom; and as I saw a curious-looking depression in one corner, I
jumped down to investigate it, leaving Bruno barking at the edge of the
pit, because I knew I should have some trouble in hoisting him up again
if I allowed him to accompany me. I carried a long stick,